Why the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Haters, This Is for You

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge videos are undoubtedly taking over your Facebook timeline. That annoys some people. But the young man in the video below is proof that the awareness and funding* is doing one of two things: Educating people on a disease they previously knew nothing about or making it OK to talk about an otherwise taboo subject.

In the clip, Anthony Carbajal, 26, takes the Ice Bucket Challenge (it’s kind of hilarious) but then explainswhy he did so: His grandmother had ALS, his mother was diagnosed when he was in high school, and five months ago, he too was diagnosed.

“I promise your newsfeed will go back to cat videos and ‘Let It Go’ covers, but right now the ALS community has the main spotlight, and for once in my entire life I see it in the forefront,” Carbajal says.

His seven-minute video is hard to watch at times — because it’s honest.

“I apologize for my rant and for my tears, but if I simply dump ice on my head I don’t think you’re really gonna get the point,” he says. “This is the first successful advocacy we’ve really ever had, and I am so, so grateful. You have no idea how every single challenge makes me feel, lifts my spirits, lifts every single ALS patient’s spirits. You’re really, truly making a difference.”

Watch his full video below, and if you’d like to make a donation directly to Carbajal, head here. If you’d like to make a donation to the ALS Association, head here.